EOS 5D SR

HI guys. I need recommendations for 95mm filter thread ND filters... probably 2, 4, and 6 stop that I will uses outdoors when I am using flash on a bright day to keep from blowing out the background highlights. That size is very expensive. All my other filters, way too small, are B+W brand and I have been happy with them. There is another brand that has been talked about here that I refuse to buy because of the guy's attitude and lying to me about sending a copy to review. He said he would here in the discussion boards, and then in email said he didn't have one available to loan for review, so never got one and never heard from him again. I don't want to mention the brand. Maybe he got his QC and attitude issues straightened out. I have no idea.

Anyway, is there a particular brand you'd recommend that might serve the purpose but not hit my wallet so bad? Are the variable ND filters all they are cracked up to be? I do like to shoot wide open for most things, but f/2 can be tough on a bright day. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I know there are some very smart pros here who can give me some real pearls of wisdom.

On another note, I will also be experimenting with gells and using kelvin... so fun times ahead. All my EF gear is gone and I have decided to start with the RF 28-70 f/2 and wait to see what Canon does with a longer RF zoom... hopefully a 70-135 f/2L or something is in the oven. Thanks again guys.

BTW: Battery grip is recommended when using the 28-70. I will be selling my RF 24-105 f4L. Great lens, but the 28-70 serves my needs at that end.

EOS 7D MK II

HI guys. I need recommendations for 95mm filter thread ND filters... probably 2, 4, and 6 stop that I will uses outdoors when I am using flash on a bright day to keep from blowing out the background highlights. That size is very expensive. All my other filters, way too small, are B+W brand and I have been happy with them. There is another brand that has been talked about here that I refuse to buy because of the guy's attitude and lying to me about sending a copy to review. He said he would here in the discussion boards, and then in email said he didn't have one available to loan for review, so never got one and never heard from him again. I don't want to mention the brand. Maybe he got his QC and attitude issues straightened out. I have no idea.

Anyway, is there a particular brand you'd recommend that might serve the purpose but not hit my wallet so bad? Are the variable ND filters all they are cracked up to be? I do like to shoot wide open for most things, but f/2 can be tough on a bright day. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I know there are some very smart pros here who can give me some real pearls of wisdom.

On another note, I will also be experimenting with gells and using kelvin... so fun times ahead. All my EF gear is gone and I have decided to start with the RF 28-70 f/2 and wait to see what Canon does with a longer RF zoom... hopefully a 70-135 f/2L or something is in the oven. Thanks again guys.

BTW: Battery grip is recommended when using the 28-70. I will be selling my RF 24-105 f4L. Great lens, but the 28-70 serves my needs at that end.

A few years ago I bought some Haida ND filters which I have been happy with, and they were significantly cheaper than brands such as B+W. I wasn’t looking at 95mm filters, but I’d say it’s worth investigating what they might have to offer these days.

PS from a quick look online just now it seems Haida does make 95mm screw on ND filters

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Hi CFB. This may not help you because your EF lenses are gone, but the RF to EF mount adapter with built-in variable ND filter works very well with EOS-R using EF lenses wide open in bright day light. It has very little color shift compared to screw-on filters like Tiffen. With R camera, if I plan to use ND, I prefer to have the EF version of the lens rather than RF. That is why for me many good EF lenses, such as EF 11-24L, and EF 135L are not replaceable.
For the RF 28-70, the Lee 100mm filter system may not work and you may need a Push-on Filter Holder. I don't have Lee 150mm and cannot comment on that. All I know it is huge.

The dark side - I've been there

I am not 100% sure if you know this review of 10 stop NDs from Bryan Carnathan, TDP.
If you ignore the one brand you don't want to buy I suppose that this will also give hints on the "weaker" NDs of the other brands.

EOS 5D SR

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll check them all out. If anyone else cares to chime in, I'd appreciate that too. I also sold my RF 24-105mm f/4 today and broke even on that. It is a great lens, but I do need the f/2. I have the 28-70 in my hands for the next few days (lens rentals) and love it. Once PayPal releases my $ this Monday or Tuesday I will order one of my own. I'll wait to see if Canon produces an f/2 in a longer focal length before deciding what to do for that. Hoping for something like a 70-135 f/2, but nobody knows yet whether that will ever happen. I have two shoots scheduled for this week. One is a swimwear shoot at one of the local lakes, and the other will be a (hopefully I can pull it off skill wise) fine art nude shoot in a studio I'll be renting. I'll only have the 28-70 for both shoots. So far, I have been very impressed with the R and the two lenses I have tried.

EOS 7D MK II

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll check them all out. If anyone else cares to chime in, I'd appreciate that too. I also sold my RF 24-105mm f/4 today and broke even on that. It is a great lens, but I do need the f/2. I have the 28-70 in my hands for the next few days (lens rentals) and love it. Once PayPal releases my $ this Monday or Tuesday I will order one of my own. I'll wait to see if Canon produces an f/2 in a longer focal length before deciding what to do for that. Hoping for something like a 70-135 f/2, but nobody knows yet whether that will ever happen. I have two shoots scheduled for this week. One is a swimwear shoot at one of the local lakes, and the other will be a (hopefully I can pull it off skill wise) fine art nude shoot in a studio I'll be renting. I'll only have the 28-70 for both shoots. So far, I have been very impressed with the R and the two lenses I have tried.

EOS 5D SR

Well, after shopping around I did decide to give Breakthrough a chance after all... mainly because they are so much less expensive than B+W. Got it through Amazon with free one day shipping... $209.00 for the x4 3 stop. A bargain for that size (95mm). I shoot people, so that is probably as dark as I need. I can use all my B+W filters on my vintage lenses.

EOR R

Well, after shopping around I did decide to give Breakthrough a chance after all... mainly because they are so much less expensive than B+W. Got it through Amazon with free one day shipping... $209.00 for the x4 3 stop. A bargain for that size (95mm). I shoot people, so that is probably as dark as I need. I can use all my B+W filters on my vintage lenses.

I own a bunch of Breakthrough stuff and never had the issue you did, but I wasn't in the initial wave either and never had to contact customer service. Now that its available through retail channels, you get to pick whether or not you want to deal with the company or the retail store. My favorite filter is a 6-stop polarizer. 3-stop will get you to below 1/8000s with large apertures, but I prefer a darker option to get the shutter speed closer to the sync speed.

EOS 5D SR

I own a bunch of Breakthrough stuff and never had the issue you did, but I wasn't in the initial wave either and never had to contact customer service. Now that its available through retail channels, you get to pick whether or not you want to deal with the company or the retail store. My favorite filter is a 6-stop polarizer. 3-stop will get you to below 1/8000s with large apertures, but I prefer a darker option to get the shutter speed closer to the sync speed.

I appreciate your information concerning the 6 stop and I will consider that one also. I have also started experimenting with gels on my flash shots of models to change the mood of the background. I am currently considering the MagMod pro setup, but it is a little pricey. I used to shoot with 72" Westcott umbrellas, but after going through 4 of those breaking at $100 a pop (even with the heavy light stands weighed with several bags of river rock, a tiny puff of a breeze would knock them over), I have switched to bowens mount octobox types. No more large umbrellas with weak shafts for me. Again, thank you for the information. My 3 stop Breakthrough filter arrived today. It seems to be very well made. My prejudice against that product had to do with the early wave QC issues and the attitude displayed by the owner of the company on these forums in the past. Got mine through Amazon, cheaper than the retail store and free 1 day shipping.

EOS 5D SR

Stuck filter ring tip: Got my 95mm filter today and also a 95mm Sensei filter stack cap. As I was screwing the filter stack caps to the filter the threads got stuck. I thought I would never get it off. They were not cross threaded. My plastic filter ring wrenches were useless. To tell the truth, they always have been. It was as though the threads of the caps (aluminum) and brass ring of the filter were galling.

I finally got it all apart and decided to take a birthday candle and rub it very lightly on the stack cap threads. You can't even see the wax as it is so lightly applied. Guess what? The caps screw on and off very easily now with no roughness or squeaking. Problem solved! I'll be doing this with all my filters and stack caps as they have always been a PITA.

EOR R

Stuck filter ring tip: Got my 95mm filter today and also a 95mm Sensei filter stack cap. As I was screwing the filter stack caps to the filter the threads got stuck. I thought I would never get it off. They were not cross threaded. My plastic filter ring wrenches were useless. To tell the truth, they always have been. It was as though the threads of the caps (aluminum) and brass ring of the filter were galling.

I finally got it all apart and decided to take a birthday candle and rub it very lightly on the stack cap threads. You can't even see the wax as it is so lightly applied. Guess what? The caps screw on and off very easily now with no roughness or squeaking. Problem solved! I'll be doing this with all my filters and stack caps as they have always been a PITA.